Western coast has more to lose from cyclones in material terms

The states on India’s western coast contributed 35% to the country’s GDP in 2018-19, the latest year for which data from all states is available in the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) database. The states on the eastern coast contributed 21%.

Natural disasters do not affect all sectors in the same way. An oil refinery stands to lose much more than a law firm or outsourcing-based IT firm. The western coast appears more vulnerable once this is accounted for too.

States on the western coast contributed 46% of India’s manufacturing GVA in 2018-19, while east coast states contributed 22%.

One could argue that cyclonic disruptions need not affect all states on India’s coastline. HT has analysed district-wise data from the Annual

Survey of Industry (ASI) conducted in 2009-10 (latest district-level data) to factor this in.

This shows that India’s manufacturing activity is highly skewed in nature. Of the 593 census districts at that time, 82% of India’s total manufacturing output was concentrated in just 100. Among these, 15 were on the western coastline and 12 were on the eastern coastline. Output value of western coastline districts was disproportionately more than their number. Western coastline districts among these 100 accounted for 27.4% of India’s total manufacturing output, while eastern coastline districts accounted for 10%.

Total gross output (~ billion) 0-50

50-200

200-400

400-800

800-1200

1200-2074.5

No data